Arrrrr!

There be Pirates at the Museum!!

Yesterday, to continue our March Break fun, I dragged my kiddies and enlisted my brother Evan's assistance and headed over to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to see their Pirates! display. It was nice, because it was not nearly as crazy crowded as at the Nova Scotia Museum on Tuesday and the people in attendance were great about getting out of the way of the pregnant lady with the big double stroller (whereas at the NSMNH, there were a few times when just had to "gently nudge" someone out of the way...Confidential to the Lady in the Red Shirt who managed to block the wide hallway so I could not get past but you had plenty of room to let me by: You saw me coming with the stroller, you looked right in my face as I said "Excuse me" 4 times at an increasing volume...why did you look so suprised when I drove over your foot?).

When you walk into the MMA, you are greeted with this:



And a happy hello to you too! Of course, this is what travellers during the 17-1800's were greeted with as they cruised into Halifax Harbour, these delightful rotting corpes executed in ritualistic fashion then hung on the rocks of Point Pleasant Park and McNabs Island to serve as a warning: We do not tolerate Piracy here in Halifax! Of course, Halifax has a rich and sometimes dark past, according to legend near where the chip truck parks out in front of the Spring Garden Road Library, the sidewalk is over the graves of 4 pirates who caused a lot of trouble in their day, in fact where the library itself is the burial ground of the deceased inmates of an asylum for the criminally insane. You're gonna have to go seek out the information for yourself to verify those tales (mostly because I cannot remember at all where I learned this, I want to say several years ago at the MMA, but I am not sure). There are a number of books on Halifax's more unsavoury past...go, find, READ!

On a more personal note, I warned Cam that this is the fate of boys who misbehave at the museum...but I don't think he believed me.

First real stop for us was the Theodore Tugboat Display:



Rose and Junior tagged along, Rose felt that since Henry got to travel and go places, it was only fair that she got out of the house from time to time as well



Then we caught a Pirate Play



It was cute, set up as a late-night talk show, David Letterman format. A lot of the jokes were over the kids heads, but Evan and I enjoyed it. And aside from some kid trying to take Grace's sitting mat out from underneath her, the kids were well-behaved.(Seriously, what the heck did he think he was doing? Sure, she was standing on her head on it, but she was behind him, not in anyone's way or hurting anybody and obviously using the mat. And the look his adult gave me when I told him to give it back to her was of such disgust...um hello? I'm supposed to just LET your child, who is twice the size of mine and several years older, literally pull a rug out from underneath my toddler? No, I don't think so.)

From there we went to model of the Saladin, and had to use our CSI skills to find clues to what really happened there. Cam enjoyed going through the cabin and writing down the clues he found:



He determined that there was no accident or disease as the crew claimed, but beyond that he did not really know why. So we came out and read the clues and what they meant, then read the real story. I think he was a bit in awe at what pirates are really capable of doing...not pretty. He kept asking "But why? Why would they kill everybody?" (I think I prefer answering the awkward questions about how the baby got in my belly rather than explain to my boy that humans are the worst animals on the planet)

Next we spent some time hanging out with Merlin, the museum's mascot:



Grace says "Hiya bird!" (See how handy brothers are to have around?)



(Later I had bought Ev some of those chocolates that are dressed like gold coins...he pulled one out in front of the bird, and Merlin turns to him and says "Cracker?" Clever bird)

We went upstairs and checked out the Pirate Life display, and found the dress-up area. My little guy I take care of got into it, but my own kids were all "No thanks" (Cam) and "I DON'T WANT!" (Grace). Ev, being 15, was far too cool to dress up. However...



Somebody takes after his daddy!

Then we wandered over to the Titanic exhibit, mostly because Cam is interested in this subject and wanted to see and get dates and times and so on. Once again though, he was a bit upset by how many lives were lost. "But WHY didn't they have enough life boats? But WHY didn't they load the boats full? But WHY did the boat fall apart so much? It's not fair that so many people had to be hurt and die." (You're right buddy, it's not)

Finally we went to the playroom, and had us some fun in the sandbox:





Then I looked at my watch and was shocked to discover that it was way later than I had thought...Little Man was easy to round up, Cam was eager to hit the gift shop (he had some tooth fairy and allowance money just screaming to be spent)...Grace had to be captured and then cried heart-breakingly as we left the playroom. She perked up in the gift shop though.

Now, I had said to Cam: "You've gotten some pretty big treats, so I am not buying you anything at the gift shop. You bring your money in case you want to buy something, because I AM NOT paying for anything."

Well...there's not much you can get for $3.65. He was all ready to buy this really cheap toy that would break before we got home...when me, big softee that I am, offered to give him the rest of the money needed to get the pirate skull cap and the eye patch (he did not ask, he wanted it and was so disappointed when he realized he did not have enough). I paid about the same as he did, and I got skull caps for Grace and Little Man too (well, Grace can always use dress up stuff, and it's Little Man's last week...totally justified).

We packed up, had a snack on the way to the ferry, the toddlers fell asleep before the boat left Halifax. Finally we were home, settled, and I was off my feet :)

For dinner we headed out to my parent's place. Cam brought his pirate gear, including the hook he had in his dress-up box.

So...I dressed up the dog...



This is Sammy (short for Samantha). She's the eldest of my parent's pups...and the most mellow. She likes to dress up. Arrrr!